Swimmer's ear

A lot of swimmers experience the discomfort the swimmer’s ear give throughout their swimming career. So, what is the swimmer’s ear and how can we prevent it?

Swimmer's ear is an infection in the outer ear canal, which runs from your eardrum to the outside of your head. It's often brought on by water that remains in your ear after swimming, creating a moist environment that aids bacterial growth.

Putting fingers, cotton swabs or other objects in your ears also can lead to swimmer's ear by damaging the thin layer of skin lining your ear canal.

Swimmer's ear is also known as acute external otitis or otitis externa. The most common cause of this infection is bacteria invading the skin inside your ear canal.

Swimmer's ear is usually treated successfully with eardrops. Prompt treatment can help prevent complications and more-serious infections.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of swimmer’s ear are itching inside the ear and pain that gets worse when you tug on the auricle (outer ear). Other signs and symptoms may include any of the following:

• Sensation that the ear is blocked or full
• Drainage
• Fever
• Decreased hearing
• Intense pain that may spread to the neck, face, or side of the head
• Swollen lymph nodes around the ear or in the upper neck. Redness and swelling of the skin around the ear

If left untreated, complications resulting from swimmer’s ear may include:

Hearing loss. When the infection clears up, hearing usually returns to normal.

Recurring ear infections (chronic otitis externa). Without treatment, infection can continue.

Bone and cartilage damage (malignant otitis externa). Ear infections when not treated can spread to the base of your skull, brain, or cranial nerves. Diabetics and older adults are at higher risk for such dangerous complications.

Tips for prevention

• A dry ear is unlikely to become infected, so it is important to keep the ears free of moisture during swimming or bathing.
• Use ear plugs when swimming
• Use a dry towel or hair dryer to dry your ears
• Have your ears cleaned periodically by an otolaryngologist if you have itchy, flaky or scaly ears, or extensive earwax
• Don’t use cotton swabs to remove ear wax. They may pack ear wax and dirt deeper into the ear canal, remove the layer of earwax that protects your ear, and irritate the thin skin of the ear canal. This creates an ideal environment for infection.

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